LIFE 


I^eu.  Ja/T\e5  fi(^<^d\)zrc\. 


The  Oldest  Methodist  Preacher 


REV.  J.  P.  RODGERS 


ciA'k^..^...  Bk.v^.^n.y^.a 


THE  ETHEL  CARR  PEACOCK 

MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 

Matris  amori  monumentum 


TRINITY  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

DURHAM,  N.  C. 
1903 


Gift  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dred  Peacock 


THE  ETHEL  CARFT  PEACOCK 


Matris  amori  monumentum. 


?  READINO  ROOlVr  I 

jVo.5..a3..8. 


REV.  JAMES  NEEDHAM 


LIFE 


^^\}.)afr\e^fi<^<^d\)ztT\, 


The  Oldest  Methodist  Preacher 


KEY.  J.  P.  EODGERS, 

Of  the  Western  North  Carolina  Conference 


^(oOif3 


pilot  mountain,  n.  c.  : 

The  Surry  Printing  House 

1899 


f^  2  ^  .  7 


To  Lottie  Lorena  Burrage, 

My^!^ Faithful  and  Efficient  Helpmeet; 

To  Annie  Burrage  Rodgers, 

Our  Precious  Babe  in  Heaven  ; 

To  James  Barr  Rodgers, 

Our  Present  Joy  and  Future  Hope. 


^  G  6   H-3 


PREFACE 


If  Father  Needham  had  died  fort>r 
years  ago,  his  life  would  have  deserved 
a  permanent  record  as  a  valuable  con- 
tribution to  the  early  history  of  Meth- 
odism in  North  Carolina.  The  value 
of  a  biography  is  largely  determined 
by  the  usefulness  of  the  life  and  by  the 
faithfulness  of  the  biographer  in  repro- 
ducing that  life  on  the  printed  page. 
If  justice  were  done  to  this  life,  instead 
of  this  booklet,  a  large  and  valuable 
volume  would  now  be  issued  from  the 
press. 

I  have  gathered  suggestions  from 
biography  and  facts  from  children  and 
friends,  but  much  I  remember  as  he 
told  it  to  me  while  we  labored  together. 
If  I  had  expected  to  write  this  sketch, 
I  could  have  known  much  more. 

With  limited  information  and  time, 
I  give  to  the  public  this  little  book,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  it  will  serve  to  keep 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  many  friends  a  few 
remarkable  facts  of  this  remarkable  man 
of  God. 

J.  P.  RODGERS. 

Pilot  Mountain,  N.  C. 


THE  LIFE  OF 

REV.  JAMES  NEEDHAM, 

The  Oldest  Methodist  Preache^r. 
May  26,  1799— April  ist,  1S99. 


Bishop  Pierce  says  of  his  father,  Rev. 
Lovick  Pierce,  D.  D.,  that  he  **in- 
augurated  the  longest  term  of  effec- 
tive service  in  the  annals  of  Method- 
ism," when  he  preached  his  first  sermon 
on  his  first  charge.  If  the  words  "effec- 
tive service"  may  be  applied  to  the. 
work  of  a  faithful  local  preacher  who 
began  at  conversion  in  September, 
1820,  and  continued  without  interrup- 
tion until  he  delivered  his  last  power- 
ful message  March  12,  1899,  a  few  days 
before  his  death,  then  this  is  true  of 
Rev.  James  Needham  whose  labors  as 
a  preacher  of  righteousness  have  sur- 
passed Dr.  Pierce's  in  length.  A  life 
of  seventy-eight  and  a  half  years  as  an 
effective  preacher  and  soul  winner! 
What  a  career  as  an  ambassador  of 
Jesus  Christ!  What  a  herald!  John 
the  Baptist  for  only  a  few  months,  but 
this  man  of  God  for  nearly  eighty  years! 
What  multitudes  will  rise  at  the  judg- 
ment to  call  him  blessed! 


8 


Methodism  in  the  Piedmont  section 
of  North  Carolina  has  had  in  him  a  ver- 
itable pioneer  with  all  the  essential 
qualifications  for  success  in  his  unique 
work.  Many  churches  were  organized 
by  him  that  are  now^  large  and  prosper- 
ous. Take  out  of  the  history  of  North 
Carolina  Methodism  the  life  of  Father 
Needham  (for  that  is  the  name  he  was 
called)  and  who  can  estimate  the  loss? 
The  value  of  a  life  so  busy  and  so 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  can 
not  be  measured  by  the  standards  of 
earth.  He  planted  the  cross  and  his 
labors  abide. 

Rev.  James  Needham  v/as  born  in 
Randolph  County,  N.  C,  about  seven 
miles  from  Trinity,  May  26,  1799.  His 
parents,  Jesse  and  Sarah  Needham,  had 
moved  there  from  Pasquotank  County. 
He  began  life  where  books  were  scarce 
and  schools  were  few  and  inferior. 
There  was  little  in  his  early  life  to  in- 
spire him  to  ^seek  ^literary  improvement 
and  the  highest  attainments.  The 
poorest  boy  of  to-day  has  greater  ad- 
vantages and  opportunities  for  mental 
training.  It  was^only  by  the  exercise 
of  an  iron  will  and  by  persistence  in 
self-culture  that  success  was  possible 
to  the  boy  who  had  in  him  the  material 
of  which  men  are  made. 


In  all  the  country  districts  of  Pied- 
mont North  Carolina,  society  was  in  its 
primitive  and  undeveloped  state,  more 
or  less  ''ignorant,  rude  and  vicious." 
There  was  little  to  stir  the  mind  and 
encourage  ambition.  Life  had  in  it 
much  of  the  treadmill  process  and  usu- 
ally desired  as  its  goal  to  *'eat,  drink 
and  be  merry."  It  was  a  day  when  men 
were  skilled  with  the  plow,  the  gig  and 
the  gun.  He  v/ho  could  tell  the  most 
thrilling  stories  of  adventures  and  ex- 
ploits was  sure  of  the  most  attentive 
hearers  and  the  highest  esteem. 

Professor  Drummond  has  much  to 
say  about  environment  as  one  of  the 
master-influences  affecting  man,  but 
Father  Needham  gathered  up  a  good 
store  of  information  despite  his  unfav- 
orable surroundings.  He  read  history 
and  standard  works  on  theology,  but 
most  of  all  the  Word  of  God,  the  first 
book  he  ever  purchased. 

Religious  matters  were  very  much  in 
keeping  with  the  intellectual  status  of 
the  country.  There  was  then  much 
preaching  against  what  was  called 
"will-worship."  Father  Needham  de- 
layed seeking  the  salvation  of  his  soul 
because  of  the  pressure  brought  to 
bear  upon  him  by  the  strong  opposition 
to  seeking  religion   at   "the    mourn- 


ers'   bench"  and  to  all  revival  work. 

In  the  fall  of  1820,  desiring  deliver- 
ance from  his  sins,  he  attended  a  camp 
meeting  at  Pleasant  Garden,  Guilford 
County.  At  first,  failing  to  keep  his 
promise  to  the  Lord  to  go  to  the  altar, 
the  Spirit  seemed  to  leave  him  in  a  con- 
dition of  despair.  But  finally  the  Spirit 
returned  in  his  convicting  power,  he 
went  to  the  altar  and  was  most  ''pow- 
erfully" converted.  Powerful  conver- 
sions at  that  time  were  not  uncommon. 
The  gospel  with  New  Testament  faith 
and  power  was  preached  by  men  who 
felt  that  power  in  their  own  lives,  and 
the  multitudes  stood  amazed  at  the 
signs  and  wonders  that  accompanied 
their  labors.  His  was  not  a  conversion 
of  dry  eyes  after  the  quick  and  im- 
proved process.  H'e  returned  home 
and  in  reply  to  the  question,  "What's 
the  news.^"  said,  "Good  news!  Good 
news!  I've  got  religion!"  His  friends 
began  to  cry  and  leave  the  house.  He 
called  them  back  and  told  them  he 
wanted  to  pray  for  them. 

At  once  he  joined  the  Methodist 
Church,  the  Church  of  his  pious  parents, 
who  had  dedicated  him  to  the  Lord  by 
baptism  in  infancy.  He  began  to  call 
his  companions  to  Christ  as  they  met 
together   in  class  meeting.      A  great 


II 

revival  began  in  which  hundreds  of 
souls  were  converted.  He  began  his 
spiritual  life  in  a  revival  and  revival 
fires  burned  wherever  he  labored 
throughout  his  long  and  eventful  life. 

Though  he  began  calling  sinners  to 
repentance  as  soon  as  he  was  converted, 
he  was  not  licensed  to  exhort  until 
sometime  in  the  year  1821.  He  was 
licensed  to  preach  three  or  four  years 
later,  Rev.  Lewis  Skidmore  being  Pre- 
siding Elder,  at  a  conference  held  at 
Leaksville,  Va.  He  was  ordained  Dea- 
con by  Bishop  Andrew  in  Raleigh,  N. 
C,  at  the  last  Virginia  Conference  held 
in  that  city,  and  was  ordained  Elder  in 
Greensboro,  N.  C,  four  years  later  by 
Bishop  Morris.  The  records  containing 
dates  were  distroyed  byFederal  soldiers. 

He  always  had  an  unshaken  faith  in 
his  conversion.  To  be  sure,  he  had 
his  periods  of  peculiar  trial,  but  he 
never  lost  his  first  love,  nor  did  his  title 
to  the  heavenly  mansion  ever  cease  to  be 
clear.  Possibly  no  one  ever  had  clearer 
and  more  unmistakable  evidences  of 
his  sonship  than  Father  James  Need- 
ham,  and  no  one  ever  had  a  more  thor- 
oughgoing conversion,  nor  a  conver- 
sion that  marked  the  beginning  of  a 
more  abundant  peace  and  a  more  even 
overflow  of  real  joy. 


12 

Father  Needham  belonged  to  the 
original  stock  of  Methodists.  He  was 
pre-eminently  a  Christian,  but  a  Chris- 
tian formed  in  a  Methodist  mold.  John 
Wesley  never  had  a  follower  that  was 
more  loyal  and  consistent.  The  rules 
and  usages  of  the  Methodist  Church 
were  conformed  to  by  him,  not  in  any 
servile  sense,  but  in  the  spirit  of  love 
for  and  faith  in  the  Church  of  his  choice. 

Though  he  was  a  genuine  and  an 
enthusiastic  Methodist,  he  always  man- 
ifested the  sweetest  and  most  catholic 
spirit  toward  the  brethren  of  other  com- 
munions. He  shunned  controversies 
and  engaged  in  them  only  a  few  times, 
and  then  only  when  it  became  neces- 
sary to  defend  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  he  had  promised  to  serve.  He 
loved  "the  brethren,"  and  with  him 
that  included  all  Christians. 

He  loved  the  Methodist  Church.  Its 
theology  appealed  to  his  common  sense 
and  sound  judgment.  He  adapted 
himself  to  the  methods  of  his  Church, 
and  had  great  faith  in  its  mission  in  the 
world.  He  deplored  its  corruptions, 
but  never  became  disheartened  or  de- 
spondent. To  the  last  he  prayed  daily 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  and 
expected  his  own  Church  to  be  one  of 
the  great  forces  under  God  in  bringing 


13 

about  that  happy  day  when  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  will  be  declared  among 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  How  earn- 
estly he  prayed  for  the  heathen! 

Equipment  for  Service. 

As  before  said,  Father  Needham's 
early  life  was  very  much  cramped  and 
his  opportunities  for  mental  improve- 
ment very  much  limited.  No  high  school 
course  or  college  curriculum  w^as  with- 
in his  reach.  Yet  he,  in  his  zeal  for 
the  greatest  usefulness  in  his  Master's 
service,  came  to  have  a  well-disciplined 
and  well-balanced  mind  despite  his 
lack  of  academic  and  collegiate  train- 
ing. He  gathered  largely  from  history 
and  from  some  of  the  Church's  standard 
authors;  but  far  above  all  other  books 
did  he  prize  the  Book  of  books.  He 
was  pre-eminently  a  man  of  one  Book, 
and  in  him  that  great  Book  had  the 
heartiest  response  to  its  teachings.  His 
supreme  delight  was  '*in  the  law  of  the 
Lord,"  and  in  His  Word  did  he  literally 
*' meditate  day  and  night."  His  leaf 
and  fruit  did  not  fail  even  in  old  age. 

He  did  not  have  the  learning  of  the 
schools  nor  any  of  their  acquired  or 
conferred  degrees;  but  he  had  a  very 
accurate    and    minute    knowledge    of 


14 


God's  Word,  and  when  he  preach- 
ed he  obeyed  the  apostolic  injunc- 
tion, ''Preach  the  word."  His  mind 
was  stored  with  the  words  of  divine 
truth,  and  he  could  repeat  large  por- 
tions of  it  with  remarkable  accuracy 
years  after  his  eyes  became  too  dim  to 
read  the  printed  page;  and  his  soul  was 
saturated  with  the  spirit  of  the  Word 
and  continued  to  absorb  it  daily.  For 
him  it  never  lost  its  freshness,  nor  did 
the  passing  years  cool  the  ardor  of  his 
love  for  its  commands  and  promises. 
He  beheld  "wondrous  things"  out  of 
God's  law. 

But  better  than  all  else  he  had  the 
unction  from  above,  the  annointing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  first  and  greatest 
requisite  of  every  successful  preacher; 
and  the  anointing  was  upon  him  from 
the  very  beginning  of  his  ministry  and 
followed  him  all  along  his  remarkable 
life  of  sacrifice  for  his  Lord.  Thou- 
sands who  preceded  him  to  the  grave 
and  to  the  glory  world,  and  many  who- 
still  remain,  have  given  their  testimony 
to  the  manifestation  of  this  power  in 
that  they  yielded  to  the  Spirit  that 
operated  through  the  word  declared  by 
him.     God  spoke  through  him. 

He  was  not  eloquent  in  the  sense 
that  the  word  is  usually  understood^ 


15 

At  times  some  of  his  words  were  not 
even  heard  distinctly.  But  he  had  that 
oratory  that  surpasses  that  of  the  plat- 
form speaker.  He  had  the  power  that 
moved  the  people  toward  a  better  life 
and  toward  God.  If  the  results  can  be 
considered  the  test,  he  was  eloquent. 

The  elements  of  his  power  and  effi- 
ciency as  a  preacher  of  righteousness 
were :  Remarkable  familiarity  with  the 
Word  of  God  and  implicit  faith  in  its  all- 
sufficiency  as  the  revelation  of  God  to 
man,  common  sense  and  sound  judg- 
ment, earnestness  and  faithfulness  to 
the  truth,  and  lastly,  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Such  effects  followed  his 
preaching  that  the  people  came  to  be- 
lieve that  his  work  was  of  God.  Hun- 
dreds and  thousands  who  heard  his  call 
to  sinners  came  crying  for  mercy,  and 
they  sought  and  found. 

He  preached  expecting  results.  In 
the  summer  of  1897,  he  assisted  his  pas- 
tor, the  writer,  in  a  meeting  at  Beulah 
Church,  Surry  County.  The  meeting 
had  taken  deep  hold  on  the  people  and 
penitents  were  earnestly  seeking  salva- 
tion. As  he  preached  on  the  Prodigal 
son  and  described  his  homeward  jour- 
ney, he  saw  in  his  mind  the  return  of 
the  seekers  to  their  Father's  house, 
and  a  number  of  them   returned  that 


i6 


hour  and  were  embraced  in  their 
Father's  arms.  It  was  a  day  of  God's 
power  seen  in  the  return  of  his  prodigal 
children  and  felt  in  the  hearts  of  his 
sons  and  daughters. 

But  just  a  day  or  two  before  this  ser- 
vice he  wept  because  of  the  seeming 
barrenness  of  results  and  the  hardness 
of  the  hearts  of  the  impenitent.  He 
literally  wept  over  sinners  as  Christ  did 
over  Jerusalem.  So  Christlike  were 
his  sympathies  for  the  unsaved  and  his 
yearnings  for  their  salvation. 

His  preaching  was  thoroughly  ortho- 
dox. His  intepretations  of  the  Word 
were  sound  and  Scriptural.  He  bad 
well  grounded  opinions  even  on  con- 
troverted points  and  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  was  able  to  give  the  reasons 
for  the  views  he  held  and  defend  him- 
self against  theologians  of  the  highest 
rank  in  the  Church. 

On  one  occasion  the  case  of  Jeph- 
thah's  daughter  came  up  for  discussion 
by  a  number  of  preachers  at  a  District 
Conference.  Father  Needham  said 
that  Jephthah  did  not  sacrifice  his 
daughter.  The  other  preachers  af- 
firmed that  he  did.  Dr.  W.,  the 
scholarly  Presiding  Elder,  was  called 
in  and  he  demanded  the  reasons  for 
his    belief.     Father    Needham    asked, 


17 

''Why  did  God  drive  out  and  destroys 
the  Canaanites  ?"  The  Doctor  replied 
that  it  was  because  of  human  sacrifices. 
He  then  asked  him,  "What  was  the. 
law  of  a  vow  ?"  He  did  not  answer,, 
and  Father  Needham  replied  that  the- 
law  of  a  vow  required  that  an  unlawful, 
object  brought  for  sacrifice  must  ber 
taken  before  the  priest  and  valuedV 
whether  good  or  bad,  and  a  lawful 
sacrifice  was  offered  instead.  The 
Doctor  replied,  "I  give  it  up.  I  give 
it  up." 

He  was  regarded  as  a  powerful  and 
effective  dispenser  of  God's  Word,  but 
he  stands  highest  in  the  estimation  of 
the  people,  and  his  memory  will  be 
longest  cherished  by  the  multitudes^ 
as  a  man  of  prayer.  To  say  that  he 
was  mighty  in  prayer  and  gifted  in 
prayer  is  to  use  well  worn  expressions,, 
but  they  can  be  applied  to  him  with 
all  their  force  and  import.  He  prayed 
— and  such  prayers  he  uttered  !  His 
whole  soul,  voice  and  body  were 
brought  into  service.  His  prayers  not 
only  were  praised  and  believed  in  by 
men,  but  were  approved  and  answered 
by  God.  Surely  God  never  bowed  his 
ear  lower  to  hear  the  prayer  of  any  of 
earth's  saints  than  he  did  to  hear  Fa- 
ther Needham's.   He  prayed  for  mourn- 


i8 


ers  and  they  ceased  to  mourn,  were 
comforted  and  praised  God.  He  pray- 
ed for  the  sick  and  suffering  and  their 
diseases  were  stayed  and  their  health 
was  speedily  restored.  He  prayed  for 
rain,  with  a  sky  as  clear  and  rain- 
less as  that  above  Elijah  on  Carmel, 
and  in  an  hour  the  thirsty  earth  was 
drinking  the  descending  rain.  He 
prayed  with  and  for  his  family  evening 
and  morning  and  they  all  became 
Christians  in  answer  to  his  prayers. 

In  1897,  at  Laurel  Bluff  Church, 
Surry  County,  he  was  helping  his  pas- 
tor in  a  protracted  meeting.  On  the 
2 1st  of  September  at  the  night  service, 
the  altar  was  filled  with  penitents. 
Deep  feeling  and  widespread  interest 
were  manifested  in  the  congregation. 
Prayer  was  called  for  and  Father 
Needham  led.  How  he  prayed!  Who 
that  heard  that  prayer  can  ever  forget 
that  hour.?  Heaven  and  earth  seemed 
to  be  closer  together.  How  he  plead 
with  God  for  those  mourning  souls  ! 
About  fourteen  of  them  professed  sav- 
ing faith  in  Christ  and  went  to  their 
homes  rejoicing  in  the  Lord. 

Also  for  the  sick  as  well  as  for  the 
sinner  were  his  prayers  sought  and  did 
they  avail.  Though  he  had  skill  as  a 
physician  and  practiced  for  years,  he 


19 

had  greater  faith  in  the  skill  of  the 
Great  Physician. 

His  son  Jesse  was  very  sick  with 
fever.  The  doctor  had  given  up  the 
case.  He  became  very  much  disturb- 
ed about  his  call  to  preach.  He 
thought  he  was  going  to  die  and  was 
alarmed  about  the  condition  of  his 
soul.  He  asked  his  father  to  pray  for 
him.  After  a  most  earnest  and  power- 
ful prayer,  hope  revived  and  he  began 
at  once  to  recover  and  rapidly  improv- 
ed from  that  hour. 

A  granddaughter's  husband,  Rev. 
Jesse  Ashburn  of  the  Primitive  Baptist 
Church,  was  very  sick  and  his  skilled 
physician  said  that  patients  in  his 
condition  always  died.  He  sent  for 
Father  Needham  and  three  other  min- 
isters. Prayer  was  offered  at  night. 
Before  day  the  suffering  man  called  up 
the  preachers  to  pray  for  him.  While 
they  were  on  their  knees  the  pains  all 
left  him.  He  got  up  that  morning,  ate 
his  breakfast  and  walked  about  to  the 
surprise  of  his  physician  and  others. 

In  time  of  drought  his  prayers  were 
heard  and  answered. 

In  1 88 1,  a  meeting  to  pray  for  rain 
was  appointed  at  New  Hope  Church. 
After  the  opening  services,  Father 
Needham    made    some    remarks.     At 


20 

this  time  in  the  service  some  of  the 
doubters  looked  about  for  signs  of  rain, 
but  saw  none.  Recalled  the  congrega- 
tion to  prayer  and  asked  all  to  kneeL 
No  prayer  in  a  long  life  of  prayer  was 
offered  in  greater  earnestness.  Before 
the  congregation  arose  from  its  knees,, 
it  thundered.  He  arose  and  told  the 
people  to  hurry  to  their  homes,  or  they 
would  be  caught  in  the  rain.  A  good 
rain  came  and  some  were  not  yet  at 
their  homes  when  it  began  to  fall.  On 
that  day  some  who  had  been  skeptical 
as  to  the  efficacy  of  prayer  learned  to 
believe  that  God  hears  and  answers 
prayer. 

HIS  WORK  AS  A  PASTOR. 
Father  Needham  never  became  a 
member  of  the  Annual  Conference,  but 
after  moving  to  Surry  County,  N.  C, 
April,  1842,  he  labored  as  a  supply  for 
as  many  as  seventeen  years.  If  he 
had  spent  his  life  in  the  itinerancy  he 
would  have  served  more  charges  and 
more  people  would  have  learned  to 
know  him,  but  great  would  have  been 
the  loss  to  the  local  ranks  of  the  min- 
istry. If  some  local  preachers  have 
brought  injury  to  their  own  rank  by 
laboring  sparingly  and  ineffectively,  he 
has  done  exceptional  honor  to  that 
large   class   of  ministers  who  usually 


21 

labor    "without    money  and   without 
price. " 

Rev.  Dr.  P.  L.  Groome,  of  the  Balti- 
more Conference, says  that  FatherNeed- 
ham  organized  Blue  Ridge  Mission  and 
served  it  three  years.  He  labored  two 
years  on  Fisher's  River  Mission  which 
was  joined  to  the  Blue  Ridge  Mission. 
Later  he  spent  two  years  on  this  work. 
He  served  Patrick  and  Sauratown  Mis- 
sion when  it  extended  to  the  Chowan 
District.  He  traveled  one  year  on 
each  of  the  following  charges:  Stokes, 
Forsyth,  Surry,  Yadkin.  Surry  Circuit 
had  twenty-eight  appointments.  He 
traveled  the  Sauratown  and  Pilot 
Mountain  Mission  during  the  war. 

REVIVAL    AND    CAMP    MEETING 
PREACHER. 

After  Father  Needham's  conversion 
he  attended  class  meeting  the  first  op- 
portunity. In  his  turn  he  arose  and 
said  that  he  had  something  to  say. 
He  told  the  congregation  that  he  had 
religion,  that  he  was  happy,  and  if 
there  were  any  who  wanted  religion,  if 
they  would  come  forward  and  kneel, 
he  would  pray  for  them.  They  came 
and  there  a  gracious  revival  began  that 
was  thorough  and  far-reaching  in  its 
influence. 


22 

Dr.  Groome  says  that  Father  Need- 
ham  was  instrumental  in  forming  the 
societyatJamestown,where  he  preached 
his  first  sermon  and  where  he  labored  in 
a  great  revival.  At  the  close  of  his  first 
sermon  he  called  for  penitents  and  many 
came.  Among  these  were  a  son  and 
daughter  of  a  minister  of  another 
Church.  He  called  on  the  preacher  to 
pray  for  the  mourners,  but  he  abruptly 
replied,  "  Pray  for  them  yourself.  " 

Also  at  Muir's  Chapel  he  had  a  gra- 
cious revival  and  organized  a  church. 
This  might  be  said  of  many  churches 
in  Surry,  Stokes,  Forsyth,  Yadkin  and 
other  counties,  where  his  labors  pre- 
ceded revivals  and  where  revivals  pre- 
ceded the  organization  of  churches. 

He  has  been  known  all  along  during 
his  long  term  of  effective  service  as  a 
revivalist.  He  was  not  acquainted 
with  many  of  the  plans  and  schemes 
operated  by  some  of  the  latter  day 
revivalists,  but  powerful  religious  awak- 
enings occurred  in-  the  charges  he 
served  and  wherever  he  labored  with 
others.  He  never  fell  in  with  the 
modern  method  of  relating  anecdotes 
and  persisted  in  saying  that  this  is  not 
preaching  the  gospel.  His  language 
was  pure  and  he  made  no  strange  per- 
formances in  the  pulpit.     In  his  revival 


1 


23 

work  he  resorted  to  no  questionable 
methods  to  gain  attention  and  draw 
large  crowds.  He  honored  the  Spirit 
and  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  results 
of  his  work  were  not  superficial,  but 
deep  and  permanent. 

Even  during  his  last  two  years  his 
labors  in  revival  work  were  remark- 
ably blessed.  He  assisted  his  pastor 
in  eighteen  protracted  meetings  and 
gracious  results  followed.  He  usually 
preached  at  the  day  services  but  al^ 
ways  attended  and  took  an  active  part 
in  the  night  services.  Over  rough 
roads,  through  heat  and  cold,  day  and 
night,  he  traveled,  suffering  for  sinners 
and  the  Church.  At  times  he  would 
preach  until  his  physical  strength  al- 
most failed  him.  His  life  and  labors 
were  a  standing  rebuke  to  those  who 
without  the  best  excuses  stay  away 
from  the  house  of  God.  Nearl}'  a  hun- 
dred years  old  and  attending  and 
laboring  in  the  night  services  of  meet- 
ings week  after  week!  Surely  no  pas- 
tor ever  had  more  faithful  and  self- 
sacrificing  help  in  revival  work. 

During  the  month  of  February,  1898, 
he  and  his  pastor  assisted  Rev.  H.  K. 
Boyer,  the  pastor  of  Mt.  Airy  Station,  in 
revival  services.  The  Mt.  Airy  corre- 
spondent to  the  Wihniyigton  Star  writes: 


24 

**Rev.  James  Needham,  of  Surry 
County,  a  local  minister  of  the  Metho- 
dist Church,  preached  a  great  sermon 
from  Acts  17:30  to  a  large  congrega- 
.tioii  in  the  Central  Methodist  Church 
/here  to-day.  Brother  Needham  will 
be  99  years  old  on  May  26th,  and  has 
been  a  minister  of  the  gospel  for  more 
than  seventy-five  years,  having  preach- 
ed to  five  generations.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  men  in  this  coun- 
^y.  Physically  he  is  quite  active  for 
one  of  his  age,  and  his  mental  faculties 
are  clear  and  vigorous.  He  is  here 
attending  a  revival  meeting,  and  is 
loved  and  honored  by  every  one  who 
knows  him.  He  is  indeed  a  father  in 
Israel,  and  in  listening  to  him  one  al- 
most imagines  that  he  is  hearing  a 
voice  from  the  great  beyond." 

In  the  day  of  camp  meetings  he  was 
in  the  front  rank  as  an  effective  camp 
meeting  preacher.  In  these  great 
gatherings  his  labors  were  eminently 
blessed.  He  assisted  in  eighty-two 
camp  meetings,  and  in  each  meeting 
there  were  from  twenty-five  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  professions.  Some 
of  the  leading  camp  grounds  of  years 
ago  were  established  by  him.  On  dif- 
ferent occasions  in  these  meetings 
where  he  labored,  the  interest  became 


25 

so  great  that  half  of  the  night  would 
pass  away  before  the  multitudes  would 
retire  to  their  tents. 

If  we  are  to  take  the  Bible  standard 
of  measurement,  "They  that  turn  many 
to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars 
forever,"  who  can  have  any  adequate 
conception  of  the  blessedness  of  such 
a  life  ?  With  such  real  and  remark- 
able conceptions  of  heaven  as  he  had, 
who  can  wonder  that  his  labors  were 
so  faithful  and  abundant,  despite  the 
sad  lack  of  almost  all  remuneration  for 
his  services? 

If  the  Church  could  come  to  have  a 
clearer  conception  of  the  vast  amount 
of  service  rendered  by  Father  Need- 
ham  during  his  incessant  labors  for 
nearly  a  century,  it  could  understand 
better  how  he  came  to  stand  above  so 
many  of  his  fellows  in  character  and 
influence.  He  might  be  called  a  prod- 
igy, but  he  is  not  so  much  a  prodigy 
as  a  product.  When  his  life  is  multi- 
plied by  the  tens  of  thousands  of  acts 
of  service  rendered  to  his  Lord,  there 
is  no  cause  to  wonder  why  all  his  ac- 
quaintances reverenced  him,  and  those 
who  knew  him  best  almost  paid  him 
homage.  Behind  him  was  such  a  rec- 
ord, scores  of  years  of  holy  living  and 
faithful  service,    that  produced   in    all 


26 


classes  a  sense  of  reverence  and  re- 
spect accorded  to  very  few  of  God's 
saints. 

After  all  that  might  be  said  about 
his  abundant  labors  for  his  Master,  it 
seems  that  the  best  contribution  that 
he  has  given  to  his  Church  and  to  his 
Country  is  his  character  based  on  a 
spotless  life.  It  is  believed  that  there 
is  not  a  man  among  his  acquaintances 
sufficiently  abandoned  to  evil  to  say 
aught  against  the  life  and  character  of 
Father  Needham.  No  man  could 
point  to  him  and  show  a  single  blem- 
ish in  his  long  Christian  life.  To  those 
who  never  knew  him,  some  of  these 
statements  may  seem  extravagant  and 
exaggerated;  but  to  those  who  knew 
him  best,  they  will  not  be  too  strong, 
nor  will  they  fully  express  to  the  world 
the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  his 
friends.  How  highly  favored  were  his 
thousands  of  friends  to  have  before 
them  in  this  perverse  and  sinful  gener- 
ation a  life  so  pure  and  spotless! 
North  Carolina  Methodism  is  to  be 
congratulated  in  being  permitted  to 
lay  claim  to  such  a  life,  long,  holy, 
-devotional,  faithful  and  effective.  He 
may  never  have  a  tall  marble  shaft  at 
his  grave;  but  as  long  as  the  Church 
cherishes  the  memory  of  its   pioneers 


27 

and  retains  the  records  of  their  labors, 
the  name  of  Father  James  Needham 
will  not  be  forgotten.  Who  can  esti- 
mate the  value  of  what  he  said,  what 
he  did  and  what  he  was  ? 

Mr.  Beecher  said,  "The  business  of 
life  is  to  know  how  to  get  along  with 
our  fellow-men."  Dr.  Hillis  says, 
"Skill  in  getting  on  with  men  is  the 
test  of  perfect  manhood."  Few  men 
have  done  so  much  good  in  the  world 
as  Father  Needham  while  producing 
so  little  friction,  while  arousing  so 
little  antagonism.  He  has  taken 
advanced  steps  in  the  art  of  right 
living. 

REMARKABLE  FACTS  AND  VISIONS. 

While  a  young  man  Father  Need- 
ham was  instrumental  in  organizing  a 
Library  Association  at  Ebenezer  Church 
about  seven  miles  from  the  place  where 
Trinity  College  was  afterwards  located. 
He  framed  the  constitution  and  by-laws 
of  this  society.  With  the  assessments 
levied  upon  and  collected  from  the 
members,  he  was  able  to  secure  a  good 
library.  This  good  collection  of  books 
had  the  effect  of  creating  much  inter- 
est in  reading  and  in  the  subject  of 
education.     The   influence   of  this   li- 


28 


brary  was  wide-spread  throughout  the 
surrounding  section  and  made  it  pos- 
sible for  success  in  the  school  work, 
and  for  the  school  to  begin  out  of 
which  Trinity  College  grew.  He  laid 
the  foundation  for  Trinity  College.  He 
builded  greater  than  he  knew  and 
greater  than  the  Church  has  yet  given 
him  due  honor  for. 

Father  Needham  knew  Dr.  Braxton 
Craven  when  the  Doctor  was  but  a  boy. 
Soon  after  Dr.  Craven  was  licensed 
to  preach,  he  attended  one  of  Father 
Needham's  services,  and  there  the 
young  preacher  preached  for  him  his 
first  sermon  from  the  text:  "And 
Abraham  said  unto  Lot,  Let  there  be 
no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and 
thee,  and  between  my  herdmen  and 
thy  herdmen;  for  we  be  brethren.'* 
Father  Needham  said  that  he  preached 
well. 

Father  Needham  was  a  native  of  the 
county  of  Naomi  Wise.  He  made  the 
coffin  in  which  her  sixteen-year-old 
daughter  was  buried.  He  knew  the 
facts  upon  which  Dr.  Craven  based 
his  thrilling  story,  "Naomi  Wise;  or, 
the  Wrongs  of  a  Beautiful  Girl." 

In  his  early  life,  Father  Needham 
went  to  his  church  early  one  Sabbath. 
He  took  a  seat  on  a  root  under  a  large 


29 

tree.  No  one  else  had  come,  and  it 
was  entirely  still  about  him.  Suddenly 
a  voice  said  to  him,  ''Get  up  from 
there."  Startled,  he  quickly  arose.  He 
looked  all  around  for  the  speaker,  but 
saw  no  one.  Then  he  cast  his  eyes  up 
the  tree.  At  that  moment  a  large  limb 
broke  off  and  fell  upon  the  very  spot 
where  he  had  sat. 

After  his  conversion  Father  Needham 
had  some  doubts  as  to  his  call  to  preach. 
One  night  he  dreamed  that  he  was  at 
Ebenezer  Church  in  Randolph  County. 
He  was  standing  near  the  pulpit,  and 
at  the  eastern  end  of  the  church  a  great 
wall  stood.  He  saw  come  from  behind 
this  wall  a  large  serpent  about  seventy 
feet  long.  It  crawled  in  at  the  door 
and  down  toward  him.  As  it  came 
near  it  raised  its  head  as  if  to  strike  him 
in  the  face.  Then  he  said,  "I  com- 
mand thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth, depart  from  here."  It  dropped 
its  head  and  turned  toward  the  door 
and  returned  to  the  wall. 

Then  he  looked  up  in  the  church  and 
saw  a  silver  trumpet.  A  voice  told 
him  to  take  that  trumpet  to  the  door 
and  sound  it  toward  the  west  as  long 
as  he  had  strength.  He  did  so.  He 
looked  out  and  saw  the  people  coming 
in  such  a  thick  mass  that  they  looked 


30 

like  a  dark  cloud.  In  a  few  moments 
the  house  was  filled  with  people  who 
came  from  the  west,  the  north  and  the 
south.  He  never  again  doubted  his 
call  to  preach,  nor  did  he  ever  preach 
a  sermon  east  of  that  church. 

Many  years  ago  he  had  a  remarkable 
vision  of  heaven.  In  this  great  mansion 
there  were  several  stories.  In  one  cor- 
ner of  this  great  structure  there  were 
fearful  signs  of  decay,  and  he  was  told 
that  this  represented  the  Catholic 
Church.  As  he  moved  along  from 
place  to  place,  he  found  that  there  was 
no  law  of  gravitation  to  overcome  and 
that  he  could  move  along  at  will  with- 
out effort.  As  he  ascended  from  story 
to  story,  more  and  more  did  he  see 
things  that  were  not  lawful  for  man  to 
utter.  At  last  he  came  to  the  upper 
story  and  looked  out  over  the  battle- 
ments of  heaven  down  upon  the  moving 
masses  of  toiling,  suffering,  sinful  men, 
and  in  an  outburst  of  pity  for  the  inhab- 
itants of  earth  his  eyes  were  suffused 
with  tears  and  he  awoke. 

Not  many  years  ago  he  was  taken 
violently  ill.  It  was  thought  that  he 
could  not  live.  While  asleep  he  dreamed 
that  he  approached  the  gate  of  heaven 
and  knocked  for  admittance.  The 
keeper  of  the  gate  told  him  that  on  the 


31 

inside  was  a  harp  for  him,  but  that  one 
string  was  wanting  on  it  and  that  he 
could  not  yet  be  admitted.  He  then 
prayed  that  he  might  return  to  earth 
and  finish  his  work  that  the  missing: 
string  might  be  supplied.  He  awoke 
and  told  his  friends  that  he  would  re- 
cover and  that  they  might  retire  to- 
their  beds  for  rest  and  sleep.  At  once 
he  began  to  improve  and  soon  recov- 
ered to  spend  a  few  more  years  of  great 
usefulness  in  perfecting  the  golden  harp- 
of  heaven. 

HOME  LIFE. 

In  1820,  in  March  before  his  conver- 
sion in  September,  Father  Needham 
was  married  to  Hannah  Frazier.  To- 
them  were  born  ten  children, — Mary^ 
Chrisenberry,  John,  Asbury,  Jesse^ 
James,  William,  Sarah,  Margaret  and 
one  that  died  in  infancy.  The  nine  all 
professed  religion  before  they  became 
grown.  Jesse  and  William  became 
faithful  ministers  of  the  gospel.  Asbury,. 
James,  William  and  Sarah  still  survive. 
William  has  two  sons,  Revs.  Zachariah 
J.  Needham  and  J.  Bibb  Needham,  who 
are  members  of  the  Pacific  Conference, 
and  a  daughter,  Addie,  the  wife  of  Rev. 
Jesse  A.  Ashburn  of  the  Primitive  Bap- 
tist Church.     Sarah,  the  wife  of  John 


32 

H.  Boyles,  Pilot  Mountain,  N.  C,  has 
a  son,  Rev.  I.  Sebert  Boyles,  who  is 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Wil- 
liamsburg, Va.  Another  granddaugh- 
ter is  the  wife  of  Rev.  Mr.  West,  an 
itinerant  minister  in  Kentucky.  Still 
others  are  filling  places  of  honor  and 
trust  and  are  not  unmindful  of  the  great 
value  of  a  godly  ancestry.  The  num- 
ber of  children,  grandchildren  and 
great  grandchildren  is  very  large. 

His  wife  was  a  consecrated  Christian 
worker,  and  very  familiar  with  the 
Word  of  God.  Her  pastor.  Rev.  N.  E. 
Coltrane  of  the  North  Carolina  Confer- 
ence, wrote  of  her: 

"Died,  in  Surry  county,  N.  C,  July  6, 
1880,  Hannah  Needham,  wife  of  Rev. 
James  Needham.  Sister  Needham  was 
born  in  Randolph  County,  N.  C,  Nov.  7, 
1801,  was  married  to  James  Needham 
in  1820,  professed  religion  at  a  class 
meeting  at  Old  Ebenezer,  April  13, 
1822.  She  was  the  mother  often  chil- 
dren. One  of  these  died  while  an  in- 
fant, three  died  in  Christian  faith,  and 
six  are  still  living.  These  with  about 
sixty  grandchildren  and  great  grand- 
children are  left  to  mourn  their  loss. 

"Sister  Needham  suffered  very  great 
affliction  for  a  little  over  forty  years, 
but  for   the  last  ninety  days  she  com- 


33 

plained  of  but  little  or  no  pain,  but 
gradually  declined  till  her  death.  She 
was  a  devoted  Christian,  and  her  end 
was  one  of  great  peace.  Previous  to 
her  death,  her  mind  was  clear  and  she 
expressed  herself  freely,  said  she  was 
ready  to  die. 

"Assisted  by  Bro.  Foy,  I  preached 
her  funeral  at  New  Hope,  July  7,  to  a 
large  congregation.  The  text  was 
from  Rev.  14:13,  a  text  she  had  chosen. 
She  has  gone  home  to  rest  from  her 
labors.  Sweet  will  be  the  rest  after 
her  protracted  affliction. 

"Bro.  Needham  has  been  a  local 
preacher  for  more  than  half  a  century, 
has  traveled  as  a  supply  for  many 
years,  is  nov/  in  his  eighty-second 
year,  and  preaches  about  twice  a  week. 
May  he  have  the  sympathy  and  pray- 
ers of  the  Church  in  this  sore  bereav- 
ment.  God  bless  him  and  all  his  fam- 
ily and  bring  them  at  last  to  the  h^ven 
of  eternal  rest." 

The  home  life  of  Father  Needham.  is 
Avorthy  of  careful  study.  He  ruled  his 
own  household  well,  and  without  re- 
sorting to  the  more  violent  modes  of 
correction.  The  rod  of  correction  was 
displaced  by  that  correction  that  came 
from  his  exemplary  life  and  from  the 
power  of  his  love  toward  his  children 


34 

and  of  his  love  toward  his  God.  The 
spirit  of  the  man  pervaded  the  inner 
circle  of  his  family,  and  they  never 
grossly  violated  his  law  of  love.  Pos- 
sibly he  was  honored  and  reverenced 
by  no  one  more  than  by  his  own  chil- 
dren. They  "almost  worshipped" 
him. 

If  the  commitment  of  children  to  pa- 
rents is  their  greatest  trust,  and  if  the 
training  of  them  is  their  highest  duty, 
then  Father  Needham's  name  deserves 
honorable  mention,  even  if  he  had  not 
directly  blessed  the  world  by  his  own 
labors;  since  he  has  produced  good 
fruit  by  the  proper  training  of  his  chil- 
dren that  have  been  and  are  a  blessing 
to  the  world.  Like  Abraham  he  be- 
lieved God  and  his  promises  and  he 
trained  his  children  and  showed  them 
the  better  way  by  precept  and  by  ex- 
ample. His  life  is  not  lost  to  his  off- 
spring, and  through  his  offspring  it  is 
not  lost  to  the  world. 

He  was  very  influential  for  good  in 
the  homes  of  his  children.  A  grand- 
son. Rev.  Z.  J.  Needham,  writes:  "At 
times  he  had  more  power  in  prayer  than 
any  man  I  ever  knew.  The  last  even- 
ing he  was  at  father's  before  we,  my 
wife,  child,  brother  and  I,  left  home  for 
California,  he  prayed  with  unusual  ef- 


\ 


35 

feet.  Such  words  of  mighty  pleading 
for  each  of  us  cannot  fail  to  bear  fruit 
in  the  lives  of  those  for  whom  they  were 
uttered.  I  am  certain  I  never  knew 
any  one  that  seemed  to  have  so  much 
faith  in  God  and  such  direct  fellowship 
with  the  Spirit." 

"FELL  ON  SLEEP." 

The  same  peace  that  filled  his  soul 
through  life  did  not  fail  him  when  his 
spirit  took  its  flight  to  heaven.  Wit- 
nesses testify  that  a  short  time  before 
he  died  he  seemed  to  arouse,  looked 
upward  and  a  heavenly  light,  brighter 
than  the  light  of  the  lamp,  lighted  up 
his  face.  His  son  William  said  that 
just  before  he  died  he  bowed  his  head 
as  if  thinking  of  Christ  when  he  bowed 
his  head  on  the  cross  and  yielded  up 
the  ghost.  He  died  without  a  struggle. 
La  grippe  had  seized  him  a  few  days 
after  preaching  his  last  sermon  at  Pilot 
Mountain,  N.  C,  March  12,  but  he  suf- 
fered little  pain.  He  was  anxious  with 
his  thousands  of  friends  to  see  his  hun- 
dred years  completed,  but  his  anniver- 
sary was  celebrated  in  heaven  with  his 
many  friends  and  beneficiaries  that  had 
gone  on  before. 

On  Easter  Sabbath  evening  his  body 


36 

was  carried  to  New  Hope  Church.  To 
a  very  large  congregation,  Dr.  W.  S. 
Creasy,  of  the  Western  North  Carolina 
Conference,  preached  a  pathetic  and 
powerful  sermon  from  the  text:  "For 
David  after  he  had  served  his  own  gen- 
eration by  the  will  of  God,  fell  on 
sleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers." 
By  the  side  of  his  wife  he  was  laid  to 
rest  at  New  Hope  Church  near  Ararat 
station,  Surry  County,  to  await  a  glori- 
ous resurrection. 


< 


Tributes  By  The  Press  and 
Others. 

From  Mr.  T.  J.  Lowry,  Editor  News, 
Mt.  Airy,  N.  C: 

"Father  Needham  is  dead! 

"  His  work  is  finished;  his  last  exhor- 
tation has  been  heard;  his  last  prayer 
on  earth  for  dying  sinners  has  been  ut- 
tered; his  lips  are  cold  and  still! 

"He  has  gone  to  be  with  God — to 
await  your  coming — our  coming — to 
meet  with  his  loved  ones  on  the  other 
shore! 

"Will  we  forget  him?  Will  we  dis- 
appoint him? 

"The  announcement  on  our  streets 
Saturday  that  Father  Needham  had 
passed  away  that  morning  at  his  home, 
at  I  o'clock,  brought  sadness  to  many 
hearts. 

"  He  would  have  been  one  hundred 
years  old  on  the  26th  of  next  month. 

"  He  was  ill  only  a  few  days  and  said 
to  those  about  him  soon  after  he  took 
sick  that  he  thought  he  would  get  up 
again. 

"  'Father  Needham,' as  he  was  famil- 
iarly known,  was  actively  engaged  in 


38 

ministerial  work  for  more  than  seventy, 
perhaps  seventy-five,  years.  While  he 
was  never  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Conference  he  served  as  supply  pastor 
many  years.  His  last  sermon  was 
preached  in  Pilot  Mountain,  Sunday, 
March  I2,  1899,  from  the  text,  if  we 
mistake  not:  'And  whosoever  will  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely.*  Mr. 
Rodgers  informs  us  that  he  had  accepted 
an  invitation  to  preach  the  annual  ser- 
mon at  Trinity  Academy,in  Pilot  Moun- 
tain, the  day  he  reached  the  century 
mark.  Last  year  he  assisted  Rev.  J. 
P.  Rodgers  and  Rev.  H.  K.  Boyer  in 
revival  meetings  and  preached  many 
powerful  sermons. 

"No  man  in  Western  North  Carolina 
was  more  universally  esteemed — none 
more  faithful  to  God. 

**  Father  Needham  leaves  several 
children,  a  number  of  grand  and  great 
grandchildren. 

"  The  funeral  services  were  held  Sun- 
day, April  2nd,  at  New  Hope,  near 
Ararat  station.  A  large  number  of  sor- 
rowing relatives  and  neighbors  and 
friends  attended  the  services, which  were 
conducted  by  Dr.  Creasy,  of  Winston. 

"The  News  extends  its  sympathy  to 
the  family  of  the  deceased." 


39 

Rev.  W.  S.  Creasy,  D.  D.,  writes: 
**  There  is  no  name  in  Piedmont 
North  Caroh'na  that  is  more  of  a 
household  one  than  that  of  Rev.  James 
Needham,  a  local  elder,  familiarly 
"known  as  Father  Needham.  The  very 
name  has  been  synonymous  with  piety, 
consecration,  and  fidelity  to  the  Church 
of  his  choice  and  the  cause  of  Christ. 
He  doubtless  wielded  a  greater  influ- 
ence for  Christ  in  the  section  where  he 
lived  than  any  man  who  has  ever  been 
among  the  people.  He  was  a  forcible, 
instructive  and  deeply  spiritual  preach- 
er. This  is  proved  by  the  hundreds 
who  now  live,  who  were  brought  to  the 
Savior  through  him, and  will  be  by  thous- 
ands who  have  entered  into  rest, because 
of  this  holy  man's  teaching  and  life. 

"His  labors  have  been  truly  remark- 
able as  to  the  long  time  the  Master 
permitted  him  to  engage  in  his  loved 
employ.  If  he  had  lived  to  see  the 
26th  of  next  month  or  just  55  days 
longer  he  would  have  celebrated  his 
one  hundredth  birthday,  which  he  ex- 
pected to  do  by  preaching  at  Pilot 
Mountain.  It  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  thousands  of  his  friends  and 
admirers  that  he  was  taken  before  that 
day.  But  the  Lord  knows  and  does 
that  which  is  best. 


40 

"He  had  been  a  preacher  for  nearly 
eighty  years.  He  was  never  in  the 
itinerant  ministry,  but  served  as  a 
supply  on  different  charges  from  time 
to  time  as  much  as  seventeen  years. 
He  v/as  abundant  in  labors  at  all  times, 
was  a  great  helper  to  all  the  preachers 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He 
almost  ceased  to  labor  and  live  at  the 
same  time. 

"He  attended  the  quarterly  meeting 
of  his  circuit  on  the  2nd  Sunday  in 
March,  preached  a  strong  and  helpful 
sermon  at  night,  from  the  text:  'Who- 
soever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of 
life  freely.'  This  was  his  last  sermon. 
He  contracted  some  cold  which  de- 
veloped into  la  grippe  and  he  gradu- 
ally grew  weaker,  until  the  morning  of 
April  1st,  at  i  o'clock  he  sweetly  fell 
asleep  and  went  into  the  presence  of 
that  Savior  whom  he  loved  so  well  and 
served  so  long.  One  of  his  last  say- 
ings was:  'I  have  been  all  my  life  try- 
ing to  show  and  tell  people  how  to 
live;  I  will  now  show  them  how  to 
die.'  He  gave  every  expression  of 
peace  and  joy  while  he  could  talk,  and 
then  by  sign  and  look,  indicated  all 
was  well. 

"The  funeral  was  preached  by  the 
writer    at    New    Hope    Church,    near 


41    ■ 

where  he  lived,  to  a  congregation  of 
1500  persons,  and  then  we  laid  him  to 
rest  beside  his  wife,  with  the  sure  and 
certain  hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection. 
It  was  a  scene  never  to  be  forgotten  as 
the  great  throng,  young  and  old,  pass- 
ed by  looking  upon  the  face  of  one 
they  loved  so  well,  which  was  attested 
by  flowing  tears.  He  has  left  us  but 
his  works  follow  him,  and  will  doubt- 
less show  wonders  in  the  better  land. 

"The  writer  has  known  Father 
Needham  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
owes  him  much  for  advice,  sympathy 
and  prayer.  I  recall  one  instance 
specially,  when  we  were  engaged  in  a 
meeting  and  the  power  and  glory  of 
God  were  being  manifested  in  an  un- 
usual degree,  he  caught  me  in  his  arms, 
and  exclaimed:  'Bro.  Creasy  and  my- 
self have  made  a  new  covenant  to  meet 
each  other  in  heaven.'  May  God  help 
me  to  keep  my  part  of  it.  When  I  was 
recommended  by  the  Church  for  license 
to  preach,  he  laid  his  hand  on  my  head 
and  gave  me  his  benediction,  which 
has  followed  me  in  power  and  sweet- 
ness all  these  years. 

'*He  was  fond  of  relating  the  inci- 
dents connected  with  his  work  in  the 
early  days  of  his  ministry.  Many  of 
them  humorous,  others  sad,  and  some 


42 

startling  to  us  at  this  day.  He  had  a 
rich  experience,  he  thought,  and  talked 
about  the  glories  of  heaven  by  day, 
and  frequently  dreamed  of  them  at 
night.  He  has  given  us  some  vivid 
pictures  of  heaven,  as  he  has  seen  it  in 
his  dreams.  He  has  gone  to  look  up- 
on his  King  in  his  beauty,  and  the 
glory  which  surrounds  him,  with  a 
clear  and  loving  sight. 

*'He  enjoyed  his  visit  to  our  confer- 
ence at  Winston  very  much  indeed, 
and  it  was  a  source  of  joy  to  him,  the 
few  days  of  life  he  had  left,  that  he  had 
met  the  brethren  and  joined  in  their 
worship.  Peace  to  his  ashes.  God 
help  us  to  meet  him  in  heaven." 


From  Rev.  H.  M.  Blair,  Presiding 
Elder  of  the  Mt.  Airy  District,  in  Church 
and  Home: 

**  The  announcement  that  Rev.  James 
Needham,  the  oldest  Methodist  preach- 
er in  North  Carolina,  and  perhaps  in 
the  whole  Methodist  Church,  had  died 
at  his  home  in  Surry  County  on  Satur- 
day morning,  April  ist,  was  a  great 
sorrow  to  his  thousands  of  friends. 

"'Father  Needham'  was  born  in 
Randolph  County,  this  State,  May  26th, 
1799.     His  parents  were  both  members 


43 

of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  dedicated 
him  to  God  by  baptism  when  in  in- 
fancy. They  started  with  him  to  the 
State  of  Ohio  when  he  was  only  four  or 
five  years  old,  but  his  mother  was 
taken  ill  on  the  way,  and  they  stopped 
at  a  place  near  where  the  Laurel  Bluff 
cotton  mills  now  stand,  near  Mt.  Airy, 
and  were  detained  so  long  that  the  re- 
moval west  was  abandoned,  and  they 
remained  in  that  vicinity  for  some 
years,  and  then  returned  to  their  for- 
mer neighborhood  in  Randolph  County. 
Many  years  later,  however,  his  father 
did  remove  with  a  portion  of  his  family 
to  Ohio. 

•'His  last  sermon  was  preached  at 
Pilot  Mountain,  March  I2th,  this  being 
the  occasion  of  the  2nd  quarterly  meet- 
ing for  his  charge.  He  occupied  the 
evening  hour,  and  preached  a  sermon 
of  great  spiritual  power  and  unction 
from  the  text,  'And  whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely.^ 
No  text  could  have  been  more  appro- 
priate, and  it  was  apparent  through  the 
fifty  minutes  of  its  delivery  that  his 
soul  was  on  fire  with  solicitude  for  the 
salvation  of  sinners.  His  appeals  were 
heart-searching  and  tender. 

''In  many  respects  this  was  a  remark- 
able man.     Unlike  most  old  men,  he 


44 

never  dropped  behind  in  the  march  of 
progress,  nor  did  he  lose  sympathy 
with  the  younger  generations.  As  he 
was  never  by  disease  or  infirmity  com- 
pelled to  desist  from  his  loved  employ 
of  preaching  the  gospel,  so  he  never 
grew  sour  or  discontented  with  the 
changed  conditions  and  methods  of 
the  more  modern  days.  Religion, 
spiritual  and  fervent,  founded  upon  the 
experience  of  a  vital  change  by  the 
regeneration  of  the  heart  through  faith 
in  the  blood  of  Christ,  was  what  he 
contended  for  all  through  his  long  life, 
and  a  better  example  of  the  truth  of 
this  teaching  was  never  given  in  any 
life.  He  literally  lived  what  he  taught. 
**  There  is  one  point  in  his  experience 
which  it  may  be  well  to  give  special 
attention,  since  it  bears  specially  upon 
a  question  which,  at  the  present  time, 
is  agitating  the  Church,  and  in  some 
places  causing  division  and  strife.  We 
have  reference  to  the  fact  that  he 
claimed  to  have  obtained  at  once,  in 
the  moment  of  his  justification,  iiot 
only  a  sense  of  pardon,  but  likewise 
that  deep  and  abiding  evidence  of  the 
renewal  of  his  nature  w^hich  forever 
settled  him,  and  made  it  entirely  un- 
necessary for  him  to  seek,  in  this  sense, 
a  second  blessing.     While  he  testified 


45 

that  he  sought  and  obtained  many  a 
blessing,  yet  there  was  no  time  when 
he  had  any  reason  to  feel  that  the  first 
work  was  not  complete  and  full.  So, 
speaking  out  of  his  experience,  while 
he  believed  with  all  his  heart  in  the 
great  doctrine  of  the  sanctification  of 
believers,  he  did  not  believe  in  the  ab- 
solute necessity  of  a  specific  second 
work  in  order  to  attain  to  this.  Xo 
one  who  was  well  acquainted  with 
'Father  Needham'  could  ever  doubt 
that  he  experienced  and  exemplified 
in  the  most  emphatic  sense  a  sanctified 
life.  His  life  was  'hid  with  Christ  in 
God.' 

"  Perhaps, after  all,  such  an  experience 
and  life  may  help  in  the  solution  of 
this  vexed  and  much-vexing  question. 
May  it  not  be  true  that  some  enter  in- 
to the  full-orbed  life  of  a  perfect  faith 
and  love  from  the  beginning;  while 
others,  with  a  poorer  conception  of  the 
possibilities  of  divine  grace,  must  come 
into  the  fullness  of  the  blessing  after  a 
revision  of  the  former  notions  of  the 
Divine  purpose  in  grace  ?  One  is  not 
likely  to  be  saved  any  further  than 
he  believes  it  possible  to  be  saved. 
'Father  Needham'  believed  it  possible 
in  the  beginning  to  be  saved  from  all 
sin,   and  thus  he  was  saved,  his  whole 


46 

long  life  testifying  to  the  truth  of  this 
salvation,  although  he  never  made  any 
public  boast  of  it,  so  far  as  the  writer 
knows. 

"His  ministry  was  one  of  power,  but 
never  one  of  contention,  and  he  al- 
ways preached  as  one  sent  to  proclaim 
glad  tidings  and  to  publish  peace.  He 
constantly  proclaimed  liberty  to  the 
captive,  and  endeavored  to  bind  up  the 
broken-hearted,  and  to  comfort  those 
that  mourned.  He  rests  from  his  la- 
bors, and  his  works  follow  him !" 

Rev.  S.  H.  Helsabeck  writes: 

''^ My  Dear  Brother  Rodger s: — I  am 
glad  you  have  undertaken  to  write  a 
biography  of  Father  James  Needham. 
I  wish  to  say  that  I  have  known  him 
more  than  fifty  years  and  he  certainly 
was  one  of  the  best  and  most  useful 
local  preachers  I  have  ever  known. 
He  read  and  studied  the  Bible  closely 
and  his  sermons  were  always  full  of 
God's  Word,  and  as  a  result  he  always 
had  a  hearing  on  the  part  of  the  people. 
He  had  faith  in  the  gospel  and  looked 
for  immediate  fruits  and  was  not  disap- 
pointed. And  the  day  of  eternity  alone 
can  reveal  the  number  of  souls  converted 
under  his  ministry.     I  was  with  him  in 


47 

many  meetings  and  know  the  things 
whereof  I  testify  are  true. 

"He  was  also  a  good  thinker  and 
when  he  reached  his  conclusions  he 
had  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  and 
on  all  proper  occasions  was  ready  to 
defend  them. 

"  He  was  a  great  lover  of  his  Church 
and  her  doctrines,  while  at  the  same 
time  his  large  heart  took  in  all  of 
God's  people,  so  that  he  truly  believed 
in  the  'holy  catholic  Church'  and  in 
the  'fellowship  of  the  saints.' 

"He  was  one  of  the  humblest  men  I 
ever  knew.  His  piety  was  deep,  uni- 
form and  constant.  Whoever  knew 
him  to  speak  an  unkind  word?  Who- 
ever saw  him  out  of  good  temper? 

"He  was  an  all-round  man — remark- 
able in  many  wa,ys  and  retained  a 
sound  and  bright  mind  to  the  last. 
And  having  for  near  a  hundred  years 
showed  the  people  'how  a  Christian 
lives.'  in  meeting  his  latest  foe  he 
showed  'how  a  Christian  dies.' 

"Take  him  all  in  all,  his  long  term  of 
ministerial  service  and  the  usefulness  of 
his  ministry,  I  never  expect  to  see  his 
like  again. 

"Though  dead  the  stream  of  his  in- 
fluence will  flow  on  forever. 

"  'Servant  of  God,  well  done! 
Rest  from  thy  loved  employ.'  " 


48 

Rev.  A.  M.  Long  writes: 

''Rev.  James  Needham,  'Father 
Needham,'  as  he  was  usually  called, 
was  no  ordinary  man.  He  was  indeed 
a  father  in  our  Methodist  Israel  in  the 
Northwestern  counties  of  North  Caro- 
lina. He  lived  almost  a  hundred  years, 
born  in  1799,  died  in  1899.  He  gave  a 
large  number  of  the  years  he  lived  to 
the  service  of  the  Church  to  which  he 
belonged  and  to  the  preaching  of  the 
everlasting  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God; 
and  sinners  by  the  hundreds  were 
brought  to  Christ  by  his  ministry. 

"As  a  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  he  came  as 
near  making  full  proof  of  his  ministry 
as  any  preacher  in  his  day.  He  sup- 
plied several  missions  and  circuits  and 
was  a  faithful  and  efficient  pastor. 

"I  first  met  him  in  1874,  and  first 
heard  him  preach  the  same  year.  Upon 
my  first  acquaintance  with  him,  I  formed 
a  mental  picture  which  I  often  com- 
pared with  that  of  my  future  acquain- 
tance with  him  and  found  that  I  was 
correct  in  my  first  mental  view. 

"Father  Needham's  religion  was 
broad,  deep  and  wide  enough  to  take 
in  all  mankind.  He  surely  believed 
and  by  his  life  said: 


49 

'There's  a  wideness  in  God's  mercy, 
Like  the  wideness  of  the  sea,' 

He  was  devoted  to  his  religious  du- 
ties and  to  his  beloved  work,  the  preach- 
ing of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 
He  was  'mighty  in  the  Scriptures';  his 
sermons  were  strong  and  well  deliv- 
ered, and  in  a  style  all  his  own;  he  was 
large  and  well  rounded  as  a  preacher 
and  as  a  man;  and  his 

'  Life  was  so  gentle  and  the  elements 

So  mixed  in  him  that  nature  might  stand  up 

And  say  to  all  the  world,  "  This  was  a  man. 


>  if 


"Father  Needham  is  gone  to  a  great 
reward.  Near  Easter  Sabbath  in  1899 
he  died,  but  as  sure  as  God's  sun  shines 
he  still  lives.  His  life's  work  is  done; 
his  mission  on  earth  was  a  noble  one; 
our  heritage  is  his  blessed  memory;  all 
should  emulate  his  virtues.     Surely 

'  The  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust.' 

*'By  the  removal  of  Rev.  James 
Needham,  this  aged  Christian  father, 
to  glory  and  heaven,  God  teaches  us 
all  how  to  estimate  great  and  good 
men  and  reproves  us  for  our  deprecia- 
tion of  their  talents  and  virtues. 

"This  aged  servant  of  God  has  gone 
to  that  blessed  home  of  which  he  fre- 


50 

quently  talked  as  if  he  had  already- 
been  there.  'Sphered  in  light  and 
throned  in  love,  companion  of  saint 
and  seraphs,  he  enjoys  a  sinless  and 
sorrowless  eternity.' 

'Where  age    has   no    power  o'er  the  fadeless 

frame, 
Where  the  eye  is  fire  and  the  heart  is  flame.'  " 

Rev.  W.  W.  Bays,  D.  D.,  Presiding 
Elder  of  the  Statesville  District,  writes: 

"I  first  met  dear  old  Father  Need- 
ham  at  Mount  Airy  last  winter  was  a 
year  ago. 

''  I  was  to  go  to  Mount  Airy  to  preach 
and  lecture;  and  just  before  going  I 
learned  of  him  through  the  Charlotte 
Observer  iox  the  first  time  I  think — that 
he  was  assisting  in  a  protracted  meet- 
ing in  Mount  Airy — a  man  in  his  99th 
year  actually  assisting  in  a  revival!  It 
struck  me  as  something  wonderful,  and 
I  had  a  great  curiosity  to  meet  him. 

"When  I  arrived  at  Mount  Airy  I 
met  him  sure  enough,  in  a  revival,  and 
preaching,  for  he  preached  the  night  I 
arrived  there,  Saturday  night,  though 
I  arrived  too  late  to  hear  him. 

"I  preached  on  Sunday  morning  and 
Sunday  night,  and  Father  Needham 
was  present  at  both  services;  and  at 
night  he  was  called  on  to  pray;  and  I 


51 

was  astonished  at  the  strength  and  com- 
pass of  his  voice.  I  am  sure  he  could 
have  been  heard  a  hundred  yards! 

*'I  lectured  on  'Woman'  on  Monday 
night,  and  Father  Needham  was  there; 
and  I  think  no  one  in  the  audience  en- 
joyed the  lecture  more  than  he.  He 
laughed  and  shook  all  over  at  the 
amusing  parts,  took  in  the  main  points, 
and  mentioned  some  of  them  to  me  at 
Winston,  last  Conference. 

"At  Mt.  Airy  I  was  with  him  a  good 
deal,  and  was  surprised  at  the  acute- 
ness  of  his  mind,  his  views  regarding 
certain  texts — some  of  them  quite 
original — though,  of  course,  views  he 
had  entertained  in  the  past — for  he 
lived  largely  in  the  past,  as  all  people 
do.  He  told  me  the  story  of  his  con- 
version— his  going  to  camp  meeting, 
the  agony  of  his  repentance,  the  bless- 
edness of  his  believing,  and  the  joy  of 
his  conversion.  It  seemed  so  Method- 
istic — aye,  almost  so  Pentecostal,  to 
hear  him  tell  what  happened  about 
eighty  years  before ! 

"I  heard  him  preach  at  Winston,  at 
Conference — the  first,  last  and  only 
time  I  ever  heard  him.  It  seemed 
like  a  voice  from  the  dead  in  some  re- 
spects, but  I  was  astonished  at  the 
volume  of  his  voice.     I  think  most  peo- 


52 

pie  in  that  vast  audience  of  1,500  or 
2,000  people  must  have  heard  him — 
heard  most  of  all  he  said.  The 
image  of  the  dear  old  centenarian 
standing  in  that  pulpit,  perhaps  the 
oldest  Methodist  p  '^acher  on  earthy 
will  never  fade  from  my  eyes,  and  es- 
pecially from  my  mind.  In  part  it  was 
pantomime,  but  such  as  came  from  a 
man  walking  with  God  and  ready  to 
be  trans) -'.ted  to  the  skies. 


'*  'Servant  of  God,  well  done  ! 
Rest  from  thy  loved  employ. '" 


Date  Due 

^     A^     Mp 

mL^»  * 

- 

CALL  NUMBER     f  Vol 


J 

&22.7     H374RP 


922.7 

N374R 

P 


Date  (for  periodical) 

26043 


7!J.-'^ 


